Center Party of Finland

The Center Party is a liberal political party in Finland that was founded in 1906 as the "Agrarian League". The party represented rural communities and supported the decentralization of power from Helsinki, and it emerged as the main rival to the Social Democratic Party of Finland during the 1920s. Kyosti Kallio emerged as the party's leading figure, serivng as Prime Minister four times between 1922 and 1937. After World War II, the party emerged as one of the four major political parties in Finland. From 1956 to 1982, Center Party politician Urho Kekkonen served as President of Finland, and the party became most powerful in small and rural municipalities due to its advocacy for decentralization.